


Faith in Humanity

by TwinEnigma



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing
Genre: Ethics, GFY, Gen, Kings & Queens, Leadership, Moral Dilemmas, Political Power Imbalance, Pre-Crystal Tokyo, Responsibility
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 18:45:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2438942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinEnigma/pseuds/TwinEnigma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The representative for the Earth, Mars, and Colonies meets with Usagi, the future Queen of Crystal Tokyo, and her court, to discuss terms of transition.  Usagi thinks it could be going better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Faith in Humanity

**Author's Note:**

> Standard disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing or any of the characters therein.
> 
>  
> 
> Please note that this fic has a lot of contextual cues and subtext. There are things, for stylistic reasons, which I have left implied or unsaid in order to emphasize the imbalance between these two parties.

Usagi, her husband, and her guardians occupy one end of the table. The representative appointed by the Emergency Alliance Powers of the Earth Sphere Unified Nations, the Colonies and Mars, sits at the other end, flanked by her guards; two young men who radiate contained violence. The table stretches between them, a gulf of plastic and steel that echoes the breadth of centuries between their worlds.

The room is ominously silent and Usagi can’t help but squirm in her seat, her heart thundering as she desperately tries to recall whether or not she’d forgotten anything that could help them to bridge this gap. 

And yet, still, there is silence. 

The representative, this _Relena Darlian,_ picks up her teacup and takes a sip of her tea, deliberately exaggerating the entire process. Then, slowly, she lowers the teacup to the saucer and places them on the table. Her face and eyes betray nothing of what she might be thinking. 

“The offer is quite generous,” she states politely. 

Immediately, Usagi feels an ache in her heart – she can hear the unsaid _but_ coming before it even crosses the representative’s lips. 

“But I am afraid that we will have to refuse,” Relena finishes. 

“On what grounds?” Haruka practically shouts, echoing Usagi’s own feelings; everyone’s nerves were already horribly frayed from the whirlwind of their awakening to this strange, eerily hostile world and now, to hear this after such a long meeting was frustrating in the extreme. 

For the first time, there is a flicker of frost in the representative’s eyes. “You mentioned that your proposition would _guarantee_ peace, through the removal of negative energies.” 

“Purification, yes,” Usagi pipes up, with the start of a smile on her lips. 

“Perhaps you could clarify the definition of _negative energies_ ,” Relena states and it is patently clear that this is not a request, but a demand. Even her personal guards seem momentarily taken aback at the sheer audacity of this girl, who can’t be more than a teenager, and the way she stares down the table at them, unflinching, and expects an answer. 

Haruka and Rei both look like they’d like to crush the girl like a bug, but it is Minako’s expression, blank and distant, that is truly worrisome. Usagi discreetly signals to her party that it is all right and, taking a deep breath, she scoots forward in her chair. “I’m sorry, I don’t follow.” 

“What constitutes negative energy in a person?” Relena asks, raising a hand to wave in a broad sweep. “Is it an external force to a person or is it internal? Is that person responsible for their actions or is this negative energy to blame?” 

“Well, that is…” Usagi falters, sinking down in her chair. In her gut, she has a sinking feeling about where this is going, and, idly, she wishes she could just turn this over to Rei to explain. Rei was so much better at this kind of thing than her, but this game is all about appearances and so she has to be the one to do this. “It’s hard to explain.” 

“What I am asking you is quite simple,” Relena states archly, cutting off any further response. “Do you believe in _free will_?” 

“W-what – yes, of course,” Usagi answers and, almost automatically, she raises a hand to indicate to her guardians that it’s fine. “If that’s what you are worried about, then I assure you that you have nothing to fear. It will simply remove negative energies influencing the world – no more, no less – and the fighting will stop.” 

“Will it? I wonder,” Relena says and, gracefully, she rises from her seat to approach the window. 

Next to her, Usagi hears Mamoru take a sharp breath and his fingers, entwined with her own, squeeze hers lightly. She can feel his power thrum beneath his skin with recognition and, curiously, focuses her attention more closely on the representative. 

Relena looks out the window, her face utterly impassive. For a moment, this slip of a girl is gone and it is easy to see why everyone in this strange, crazy world believes in her so utterly and once called her their ruler. She carries herself like a born queen, her very presence carrying an immeasurable gravity that seems impossible for one who is not a guardian like them. Here is a young woman, born in violence and tragedy, who has fashioned herself into the symbol of hope for her world and, in doing so, has become more than herself. She is real in a way that the Neo Queen Serenity of Usagi’s hazy memories never was. 

“The people of this time are fighters,” Relena states solemnly. Her hand clenches into a fist. “There are plenty of people who have tried to force their idea of peace upon the rest of us. They have used soldiers and super weapons, viruses and nanomachines, politics and policy. Negative energies did not cause our wars – _we did_. Everything we have, even this peace, we have fought long and hard to obtain and it was all of our own choosing. The actions and choices we made are _our_ responsibility and no one else’s. We, as a people, do not take kindly to those that would force our hand.” 

“But we’re not doing that,” Usagi protests. 

“Aren’t you?” Relena asks, turning her head to look at them. “You arrive from nowhere, announcing that you are the fated rulers of this world, and insist on negotiating a transition of power on your terms.” 

“That’s not quite accurate,” Usagi starts, but again she is cut off. 

“I should think it _is_ ,” Relena counters and, though her voice is soft, it is icy and condemning. “From the outset, it has been made very clear to us where we sit in terms of power in these negotiations. Your court has demonstrated their power readily enough and you yourself make constant mention of this future world of yours. You insist that this future is inevitable and yet you offer us these negotiations, as if we are generously being given a choice. You would give us peace, longevity and vitality, but at the cost of our nebulously defined _negative energies_ , which you have implied to influence our behavior, thus robbing us of responsibility for our own actions.” 

It is all but said: _you have insulted us, gravely._

Usagi looks helplessly over her shoulder, searching for Setsuna, but she is not there, and reluctantly returns her attention to the representative. All the while, she thinks that this is not how things were supposed to go. 

“Understand this,” Relena continues relentlessly, “We are a people who _make our own fate_. We own up to everything we do. For good _or_ ill, that is our way. Try to force us and we will fight back.” 

Usagi squirms in her seat, for the first time in a long time uncertain of herself. Unbidden, the image of the inverted black crescent moon comes to mind. Suppressing a shudder, she wonders if there truly is no way to avoid that fate and pipes up, “But we’ll be bringing an end to sickness and starvation, too.” 

It sounds pathetic even to her own ears. 

Relena looks down the table at them with the eyes of a true queen, one who both knows her people and holds her duty to them as sacred beyond measure, and when she speaks, it is as if the will of the whole world resonates in her every word: “As I said, your offer is indeed generous. But, all the same, we refuse. The cost is beyond reason.” 

In that moment, Usagi understands the girl – no, woman, at the other end of the table completely. 

Relena is scared of them and of their powers. She knows her people cannot win in a fight against them. She knows that military action would be useless against magical powers like theirs. She knows that if Usagi willed it, she would be dead in an instant. But she stands before them, her back straight, and boldly challenges them on behalf of all her people. They have put their faith in her ability to speak on their behalf and make their wishes known and she has put aside her fears to do so, knowing full well she could be going to her death. 

What a frightening resolve! 

“Then,” Usagi says, standing. She pauses a moment, searching her heart for the right words, the words that capture the honesty and goodness she truly knows that she intends, and _decides._ “Then, we shall honor that. We’ll step back and we won’t interfere unless there is no other choice. We’re not going to force anything on anyone who does not want it. If a person wishes to take us up on our offer, then let it be their decision and no one else’s.” 

Relena gives her a glance that is both evaluating and a silent request to continue. “And what of your fated future?” 

Usagi shakes her head, smiling wistfully, and forgoes the formality she’d been trying so hard to stick to for the simple truth: “Honestly, I haven’t the slightest clue how that came to pass in the first place. Going there was sort of like… skipping to the end of a book and reading the last chapter? You kind of miss everything in the middle.” 

At that, the representative and her guards share a bemused look. Behind her, Usagi can hear her own guardians quietly groaning in exasperation and embarrassment. 

“I figure that if it’s really meant to pass in any way, then we’ll get there eventually,” Usagi adds, “Through our _own_ choices and our _own_ actions. And, who knows, maybe it all turns out different this time? It’s like they always say: the future isn’t written in stone.” 

“Perhaps,” Relena says, coolly. She inclines her head a little, one sovereign acknowledging another of equal standing. “Then, we have an understanding.” 

“Yes,” Usagi replies, smiling kindly. 

They shake hands, bid farewell, and Relena turns to leave, her guards flanking her. 

Usagi lets out a deep breath, like she’s been running a marathon, and sinks back into her chair. 

“I’m proud of you, Usako. I know it was rough, but I think… maybe it had to be done that way from the start,” Mamoru says quietly, in their native Japanese. He closes his eyes for a moment, looking distinctly shaken, and continues, “I could feel the faith the people of this time have in her. If we had forced the issue...” 

Nearby, Minako snorts and rolls her eyes, interjecting in Japanese, “We’d have won the argument already.” 

Mamoru pauses to look at the guardian of Venus, and shakes his head, adding in Japanese, “I am not so certain. The people of this time _believe_ in her. There is great magical weight in that. Trust me, I can feel it.” 

Both Haruka and Minako begin to argue the point with him and Usagi sighs, tuning the squabble out. She’s just glad that the meeting is over with and that she’d managed to turn it back from the brink of absolute disaster. 

She gets up and drifts towards the window, looking out. She watches the way the distant horizon curls up impossibly and thinks that she will never get used to these colonies. 

A knock on the door draws everyone’s attention. 

“Your car is here,” the guard, a man in that same blue uniform with the olive green shoulders as Relena’s guards, states. 

But Usagi does not move. Her eyes are locked on him, this tall man, and for a moment, she is sure that she is seeing a ghost. Her mind races and rages at the idea that she cannot escape the shadow Nemesis. 

It is too early, she thinks, and then she pauses, thinking about it. That’s right, she thinks. Prince Diamond will not be born for a long time yet and, now that she looks more closely, she can see that this man’s hair is not white, but a very light platinum blond. He lacks the black crystal earrings and the black crescent on his forehead, true, but the shape of his face is very much like the one of her memories – a distant ancestor, perhaps? 

An ominous sense of fatalism looms over her and her stomach churns. She thinks of what that Mamoru of a long-ago future past told them of the rise of Nemesis and of Relena’s words, now laden with foreboding: _try to force us and we will fight back._

“Of course,” Mamoru addresses the guard, in English. “Shall we go, Usako?” 

She smiles thinly and takes his hand. “Yes, let’s.” 

It’s still possible that they could avoid the Nemesis situation entirely. 

She believes that. 

She has to. 

After all, the future isn't written in stone, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Before anyone gets their rage on, pretend you are a member of the ESUN or any of the colonies, and out of nowhere, this magical woman shows up with her court and goes:
> 
> _"Hey, I'm your predestined magical sovereign with my court of magical super-soldiers and my magic husband, and I'm going to give you peace, long life, and magic away all the bad stuff like wars, anger, illness and hunger, because time travel says I did this."_
> 
> To a universe of what amounts to largely muggles, that sounds pretty nuts.
> 
> Now, here's the thing (and I've updated this note for clarity):  
> I tried to point out that Usagi is Not Good At Explaining ThingsTM. She might have gotten more traction with "Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, suffering leads to the Dark Side" than accidentally inferring that people are Not Responsible for Bad Things because of negative vibes and really poorly explaining what it is that she even wants to do, because to her and her crew it's kinda a "water is wet" situation (Usagi can't imagine _not_ knowing the context, so that this is the problem never occurs to her). 
> 
> Likewise, I've also tried to make it clear that having magical friends around all the time has kind of blinded her to how scary she must seem to someone who is not in her magical friend circle - and she _is_ to the GW people, who have zero experience with this stuff. She seems very alien to them. She's also struggling a bit with knowing the end result (peace and Crystal Tokyo) but has no idea how Future Her got there, what it took to get there and how it possibly plays into the original Black Moon incident. She doesn't realize how bringing this future up _sounds_ to these people, who are super sensitized to this.
> 
> Relena serves largely as counterpoint to her. I use "a sovereign of equal standing" towards the end because Relena and Usagi both, ultimately, want what's best for the people of earth. They just have different means of going about it. Usagi is of the "use magic on your problems/through the power of LoveTM" school, while Relena is of the "sometimes people just got to deal with their own problems/you can only help so much" school; taking away their choice in the matter won't help and will sometimes get them mad at you for taking away their agency. Relena also makes the argument about how much personal responsibility is there where negative energies are involved, which is perfectly valid, since purification very vaguely defined and Usagi (et all) give her no reason to assume its _not_ anything untoward. She also draws direct attention to the power imbalance between their parties, outright reframing the context of their arrival in such a way to make it clear that as far as the people of the GW world are concerned, even if Usagi just wants to help, she's declared her intent to rule at gunpoint and, worse, suggests they aren't even responsible for their own actions (which isn't what she _means_ at all, but still).
> 
> Additionally, Mamoru hints that Relena is, at least in terms of the faith placed in her by her people, still very much a true queen of earth as far as anyone magical should be concerned. The faith they place in her has magical weight, which is implied to place her in a position of equally valid claim over the people of the Earth and colonies.
> 
> And then there's surprise Milliardo, spooking Usagi, because why not.
> 
> As an additional aside, like I said with The Last Light, there is a space in the fandom for fics like this. If I want to write something that addresses a gaping plot hole in the canon or pose ethical dilemmas to an unprepared Usagi or emphasize miscommunication, _I should be able to do that._


End file.
